Makuba had taken Addy back to their quarters for rest, but she was still riding the waves of excitement. She had curled up in their bed for an hour or so, eyes opened as she had mentally reviewed her interactions with the others.
Makuba had gone to do other things, leaving her to her space for a little while. She appreciated the gesture, especially after having spent twenty minutes sitting in his lap. Despite her emotional timidness, she wished he hadn't gone for so long. She had questions for him.
He returned just as her eyes were finally beginning to close.
"It is time to get up," he rumbled in greeting, crouching next to her.
She sighed with an exaggerated groan and buried her face in the pelt, "Impeccable timing, Makuba, really."
He had her change and follow him to another new area of the ship. She tried to pay attention to the turns, but she couldn't focus enough energy to commit them to memory.
They arrived at a large, open space that largely resembled a dojo, with what looked like weapons hung on the far wall. The room was ovular in shape, and the long wall was broken up with another window. The near wall seemed to be set up as a resting and viewing area, and Andi was sitting about a quarter of the way down a bench.
"It is time to train," Makuba said, gesturing to Kateyus in the center of the room performing light stretches.
"Oh, okay? You want me to stay?" Addy asked, glancing at the bench.
"Sei'i, you might learn something," Makuba smirked and ruffled up his mane cockily.
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and moved off to sit next to Andi.
Makuba stepped down to meet Kateyus jovially.
Addy settled herself next to the quiet red-head, but with enough distance between them to not crowd one another.
"Hi Andi," she smiled nervously.
The redhead grunted in acknowledgement, not lifting her gaze from her datapad.
"So, you never got a chance to answer this morning," Addy sat back and crossed her arms, hoping it would help keep her anxiety at bay.
Andi glanced at the newcomer from the corner of her eye, "What do you mean?"
"What you did before all this," Addy vaguely gestured at the yautja on the floor smacking each other around.
Andi grunted again, "I was a mountaineering guide. Took people on hikes out in the mountains."
Addy smiled wistfully as she recalled her own trips out to the mountains, "That sounds like a lot of fun. Ever in the Rockies?"
"Exclusively, although I went on personal hikes to other ranges," Andi crossed her legs and adjusted her grip on the tablet.
"Did you have a favourite place to go?" Addy asked, picturing the crystal-clear waters of the mountain rivers she'd seen.
It didn't take Andi more than a second to answer.
"Deep," she hummed. "I loved the places that not many people would go to, where the trails were barely touched by humans."
"Did you ever take horses?"
"Sometimes, there's lots of places you can't get into without them."
Addy bobbed her head, "I went to some real cool places with my grandparents before they couldn't ride anymore."
"You ride?" Andi turned her head.
Addy smiled wistfully, "I did. Hadn't in a few years, I was so busy with school and trying to lose weight…" she sighed. "I sold my horse when I was accepted, and moved to the city."
Andi clicked her tongue at seeing the water in Addy's eyes, "I get it. School's a big commitment, you gotta look out for you first."
"Yeah, but I miss them so desperately some days," Addy pursed her lips, blinking the tears away.
"You know what I miss?" Andi cocked an eyebrow.
"What?" Addy scratched her nose.
"Farmer's markets," she hummed longingly. Andi groaned deeply and closed her eyes, "Oh, how I would love to sink my teeth into a fresh apple right now."
"How often do you get back to Earth?" Addy frowned, feeling a little curl of doubt in her gut.
"Well, I've only been on the ship for a year, so it's been a year since I've been back."
"Did you go visit your family?" Addy asked.
"Nah, I messaged them but they were all busy with work shit. Next time we're coming back I'm gonna talk to them a little sooner, try to plan a weekend or something," Andi shook her head.
"Seems like a good idea," Addy agreed. She knew how difficult it could be to gather more than one other person for anything outside of work. It was a stark reality after she had graduated high school, seeing for herself just how much planning was needed. Even with a lot of effort, there was no guarantee she would get everyone she invited.
Laughter bounced down the hallway and into the room, and Addy turned her head to see who came through the door.
Ingrid and Charlie raced inside and skidded to a halt, laughing uproariously. Andi was on her feet in a second, "What? What did you do!" She demanded, poking her head out the door, looking both ways.
Ingrid wheezed and fell to her knees, trying desperately to catch her breath between giggles. Charlie wiped tears from her eyes, "Oh, I'm sure you'll find out."
The redhead scowled, "Fuck's sake, just tell me!"
As Charlie giggled with Ingrid, Tensynn and Aqida strode into the room, followed by Dachande.
Tensynn shot a quick, withering glare at the laughing women, but continued down to the main floor with his brothers.
Addy was on the edge of her seat, keen to find out just what had transpired that rendered both Charlie and Ingrid so speechless. Dachande barking orders at her sons seemed to quiet the two women to soft snorting, while Andi adamantly demanded to know what they had done.
"We gave Tensynn some of Ingrid's super spicey jerky," Charlie giggled as she shoved everyone back onto the benches. "You shoulda' seen his face!"
Ingrid guffawed as she collapsed onto the bench.
Andi deflated quickly with a roll of her eyes, "You guys can't help but torture the guy, can you?"
"What do you mean?" Addy asked, wide-eyed gaze flickering between the group of other women.
"These two dorks feed Tensynn the weirdest shit at any given opportunity. The guy is genuinely curious about human food and snacks, likes most of them actually, but they mess with him all the time," Andi shook her head and crossed her arms as if speaking of misbehaving children.
Charlie chuckled, "And it's worth it every time. You wouldn't think they could be so expressive with their faces."
"And we can't get any of the others to try anything," Ingrid added, sitting up after having caught her breath.
"Perhaps because you give Tensynn the weird, spicy stuff?" Addy asked lightly, feeling a laugh bubble in her chest. Andi rolled her eyes and flicked Ingrid in the arm as the southerner shifted into her side.
"Probably," Charlie snickered.
Dachande barked something from below them, and Addy's attention was drawn to the floor. She appeared to be instructing her four sons through some kind of kata, as all of them moved in unison. The matriarch studied them sharply for a short while before stepping in to perform the same movements with them.
Addy was mesmerized at their athleticism. For such large, bulky beings, they moved with such grace and purpose. She found it especially intriguing that they could move with nearly no sound. It was truly terrifying.
"Pretty incredible, right?" Ingrid whispered just off to Addy's right.
She glanced at the brunette from the corner of her eye, "What do you mean?"
"How aware they are of each other, how smoothly they move together," Ingrid said.
Addy nodded. The height difference between them was apparent, lined up as they were. Dachande by far stood above them, at least a foot taller. Tensynn was the tallest of the brothers, also the leanest, but by no means weaker or less intimidating. Makuba was the second tallest of the siblings, and as Addy's eyes appraised the five of them she discovered he was very visibly the thickest. Aqida was the second bulkiest, but he was the shortest, and Kateyus was in the middle in terms of stature and height.
Despite their differences, they were all incredibly powerful, and Addy rather appreciated the view as their muscles flexed.
As the routine came to a close, Dachande ordered the boys into a formation where two faced two, and they immediately began to spar.
It looked like Makuba was paired with Tensynn, and Kateyus was paired with Aqida.
Addy was taken aback at the speed with which they attacked one another. She could barely perceive individual moves, mostly only picking up the growling and dull thuds as they landed a hit on one another.
"Ladies, come here," Dachande called, standing off to the side of the sparring males, by the bench.
Addy glanced at the others in uncertainty as they stood. Ingrid patted her on the shoulder, "C'mon, Mama Bear calls."
"What for?" She asked curiously, standing and following Ingrid down to the main floor with Charlie and Andi. As they descended the short distance to the main floor, Addy felt her nerves ratchet up a notch. They were getting pretty close to the sparring boys, and if one of them slipped up…
Well, Addy knew she wasn't nearly as durable as them.
"You'll see," Ingrid smiled over her shoulder.
The group of women came to a halt before Dachande. Addy was once again astounded by the female yautja's commanding presence. She waved her claws at Aqida and Kateyus, and Addy looked back and forth between the pair of growling yautja.
"Tell me what you see," the matriarch rumbled.
Addy stared wide-eyed at the battling brothers. They moved so quickly, lunging and jumping back and forth, that all she could really see was a rush of dark, scaly skin.
"Aqida favours his right side, and his reaction time is slower than normal," Andi supplied, standing with her hip cocked out confidently.
Charlie glanced at Ingrid with a raised eyebrow, "What did you do to him?"
Ingrid shrugged, "Nothing out of the usual."
Andi rolled her eyes.
Addy stared blankly at the three women, helplessly lost in the conversation.
"Correct, Andi," Dachande dipped her head, then pointed to Makuba and Tensynn. "What about them?"
Addy turned her gaze to the other pair, another blur of movement.
"Makuba's reactions are also slow, and he's not engaging with Tensynn," Andi stated.
"Someone's a little distracted," Ingrid waggled her eyebrows and bumped her hip against Addy's.
Addy frowned with tensed shoulders, "I do not understand what is happening right now."
"Understanding how yautja fight will give you an advantage," Dachande said from behind Addy.
"An advantage?" she parroted dumbly.
"Should you ever need to defend yourself from one of our kind," Dachande explained. "My sons are very protective of you, but there may come a time when they are not by your side to defend you."
The matriarch stepped away from the women then, leaving a startled Addy in her wake.
"Oh, geez," Addy muttered under her breath, "this is a lot to take in."
Charlie put her hand on Addy's shoulder, "It was for all of us, but we're here to help if you have any questions."
Addy frowned, "So, we're just supposed to watch them fight?"
"Basically, yeah," Charlie nodded. "A lot of the time, the boys just like to show off for us. Make a big show, flex their muscles, that sorta thing. With a big hunt coming up, though, I don't think Dachande's going to let them get away with much of that during their training time."
"God, I love when they get all showy," Ingrid sighed dreamily.
Andi hummed her agreement, then moved back to sit on the bench again.
"Big hunt?" Addy asked. "Is that the queen-thing she talked about earlier?"
Charlie nodded again, "Yeah. Makuba can probably explain it better than us since none of us really know much about them."
"Huh," Addy grunted. "OK."